. it's more and tense and even know this is not going to be taking place on a football field due to bad weather, for political junkies, this is still their super bowl. >> so there is no screening -- no screaming cloud of 73,000 and no time to read a big balloon drop, but expect plenty of figurative fireworks. >> it will be a third home run. >> it the emotions right now are so high. >> the president will have a tall order, not just pitching his recovery plan but competing with his predecessor, bill clinton. >> we are not competing with president clinton. president clinton did exactly what we hoped he would. he cleared a lot of the underbrush. it gives the president a chance to spend his time talking about the future. >> joe biden will also swing for the fences.

will be a tribute and a surprise guest. arizona's gabby giffords will lead the pledge of allegiance. expect countless jabs at the romney. >> they are not going to be this on the streets or on the ground. >> but republicans won't sit idly by. this is the war room at their rapid response center just blocks away from the arena. the gop faithful will watch every minute, strategize over plans and raced to react in their own studio. >> when you ask the president and he gives himself and incomplete. my children have a report card that says incomplete, i know they failed. >> back to the super bowl analogy -- consider a few of the names we will see onstage tonight -- scarlett john hansa and the -- scarlett johansson and the foo fighters.

we will break it down in every action in highlights tonight from the democratic national convention. >> we will look for you tonight. even before the president makes that speech, republicans are firing back. after bill clinton's rousing speech by, virginia gov. bob macdonald says it can't just be about speeches. he says the nation is still $16 trillion in debt. unemployment and gasoline numbers remain high. >> and i'm sure the president will deliver a great speech tonight. we will make up -- will make up with a jobs report. speeches make you feel good for a while, but at the end of the day, the american people don't think we're better off than we were four years ago. >> you can hear that speech tonight at 10:00, followed by our news broadcast. you can always get updates by going to wjla.com.

>> a wet day outside for most of the washington area. we have the first look. >> i think for most areas, we are in the clear. if is a little bit muddy. but let's show you the stormed scanned. heavy rains pitching well to the south with thunderstorms across pennsylvania and new york. a couple of downpours over the piedmont region -- i know my states -- west virginia. 82 in washington. there are a little storms out west. the skies will clear. we have had heavy rains. the ocean city, 1.63 inches of rain. combined with high tide, this is what happens. some blow flooding. with chances of more rain. we will tell you it's coming after that. >> d.c. health officials are confirming the first death from

the west now virus. the victim was an elderly man from northeast washington. authorities say an older woman has been hospitalized with west nile. maryland health officials reported state's first death from the virus which took place last week. no deaths have been reportedly virginia. >> tonight, the sports world mourns the loss of art modell who died on wednesday at the age of 87. we have more on the life of one of the most important figures in the history of the nfl. >> he did have a lot of influence. the nfl commissioner gave him credit for helping the nfl become a popular sport is today, praising him for realizing how important it is to get more football on television decades ago. there are others, especially in ohio, that lost respect for him about 16 years ago. >> he brought the ball back to baltimore. >> he will long be remembered

as them and to turn the cleveland browns and to the baltimore ravens. charm city had been mourning the sudden departure of the colts that left the redskins the closest team. >> it brings a new life to a city that kind of gets beat down as a whole. >> he had a lot of success in the early years including an nfl championship. he was known as one of the driving forces behind the night football. he was very active in charities and causes. >> a man who cared about the committee. >> as popular as he is in much of maryland, he is unpopular in cleveland where fans have never forgiven him for moving the team away even though he always had great attendance and fan support. >> he said maryland offered him a stadium that cleveland wouldn't. after cleveland had got the new

team and stadium. >> they have a wonderful situation going. >> many things people have been putting on twitter today are not as terrible. others show many are still angry. >> art modell is not in the football hall of fame and many people believe that was because of its controversial decision. but others think he did everything he should do and he should be there. >> a flight called back to the airport minutes after takeoff. why the fbi says it was a hoax and who may be behind a call that started it all. >> this is no hoax -- spirit airlines is moving from one local airport to another. the lineup of destinations next.

president clinton: ts election to me is about which... candidate is more likely to return us to full employment. this is a clear choice. the republblican plan is to cut more taxes on upper-income... people and go back to deregulation. that's what got us in trouble in the first place. president obama has a plan to rebuild america from... the ground up, investing in innovation, education... and job training. it only works if there is a strong middle class. that's what happened when i was president.

we need to keep going with his plan. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message.

>> and the owner of a woodbridge

beauty shop is under arrest night, accused of sexually assaulting a 17-old girl who was applying for a job. he took a teenager to a back room and inappropriately touched her. she was able to get away and call authorities. he is now in jail sarge -- charged with sexual battery. >> d.c. authorities are asking for help finding a man who may be in danger. he was last seen at 9:00 in washington. he is 59 and may have been driving a champagne-colored toyota with d.c. tags. they asked if you see him to give police a call. >> a pretty nasty trick is what the fbi is calling a hoax that sent a plane back to the airport. philadelphia police got a call a male passenger attempted to slip by with a dangerous substance and board a flight to texas.

investigators figured out who the man was and forced the plane back to the airport. the plane was evacuated but the bomb squad found nothing in the passenger was interviewed. the fbi announced it was all a hoax. >> it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that when you place a hoax against civil aviation, the consequences can be catastrophic. look at the resources that were expanded and the delays to the passengers the expense to the agency involved and it to the authorities. >> the fbi would not comment on any specific charges, but officials said the charges would be severe and could include jail time. there are reports tonight that passengers ex-girlfriend and her current boyfriend were behind the hoax. >> it could be easier to get insurance reports from your insurance companies. reports will be made online for a small fee. the county hopes this will cut

down on the $35,000 they spend every year to produce the report. you can find a link to download the reports on our website. >> won a local airport's lost is another one gain. what spirit airlines have done. >> a great day with a fair amount of rain. what is in store for tonight and tomorrow? >> that national football league has lost one of its most influential owners. in baseball, the national ticket crunchy with the cubs.

>> it there is a new choice taking to this guy out of bwi thurgood marshall airport -- spirit has relocated from reagan national airport and added the dallas plight. they say they can better serve the area out of the new location. >> i flew into washington and it

was raining when i got here. >> same thing in my neighborhood. >> there were some torrential downpours south of this location. pictures from the rooftop camera in arlington. the low and scary looking clouds what skies brightening, a leading us to the current image. a beautiful evening for the nationals game. a wonderful thing get six home runs for the third night in a row? 72 right now -- fifth -- 0.15 inches of rain. 84 and 76, the overnight low was 10 degrees warmer than average. a quarter of an inch of rain and this is a good sign. the record high temperatures in double digits, sat back in 1954

many years before i was on the planet. i will step out while my nose bros. nothing locally, but just to the west, a heavy storm that will diminish. those are terrain-induced thunderstorms. locally, we will see clearing skies the rest of that evening. dropping into the '60s. skies clearing and we will have a nice day tomorrow. afternoon thunderstorms are a possibility. we can show you on the future cast -- clear skies. this is the big cold front. mid to late afternoon behind

the front, it's going to turn cooler and less humid. it will be beautiful. check out this image. 90 tomorrow with a chance of showers and on saturday, showers and thunderstorms becoming all likely into the afternoon and evening. beautiful sunshine and low humidity. warming to the lower 80s by the middle of next week. >> that toyota sports desk, brought to you by your local 200 dealers -- moving you forward. >> you need art modell? >> i knew him very well. i met him back in the 1980's when i was doing nfl games on the network. he would always take us out to dinner in cleveland that he was always congenial. he move his franchise to baltimore but he was a luminary. he was an innovative pioneer, controversial certainly, but he

moved the franchise to baltimore and leaving cleveland never goes over with fans. he shaped that tv model and help create monday night football. a former tv executives said -- he was remembered this way -- >> the impact of art -- that can't express it in words. >> a long time raven linebacker had this to say -- >> a legacy of pure impact. that's what a true hall of fame is. >> it was nice to fall in love with art modell. he was the kindest man he will ever meet. >> a sad day for football, a sad

day for the reagans. the redskins went through their thursday practice. corry has wrist -- has recovered enough from is the surgery to start. robert griffin the third law of butterflies the size of = for his nfl debut. but is only a matter of time before he takes the nfl by storm. >> trust your preparation so that when you step on the field, you know you can go out and do it. you can see there is something all night, take the test and get it wrong. have to know it or you down. >> let's go to baseball -- the atlanta braves got by the colorado rockies. the nationals are on a roll. they play the cubs downtown and when a series this has been. six more home runs, 12 in two nights. the nationals of the best

record in all of baseball. >> good teams don't take nothing for granted. a lot of times, have more energy and more to prove by beating the guys at top. we have been down there and laugh and we know what it's like. we're not letting up. >> our play of the day -- indians and tigers. chasing the ball down and look at this. it makes a spectacular catch. one of the fans got after him pretty good. not happy spill his beer. that is the play of the day. tiger woods had a solid round with seven under behind the leaders. there are three tied at the top. rory mcelroy leaving where he left off last week. eight under par. a birdie putt and on the birdie

train. tied lead simpson and gramm delay, three of the top tiger. a four game series with the yankees tonight. the orioles trail by just one game in the standing and this is just the last game between in this year. >> they had 25,000 there tonight and i expect to have more tonight. tomorrow night stephen strasbourg'

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>> russian president, vladimir putin, once shot a tiger with a gun and a tractor on a bear. now he is going to fly with siberian cranes. he strapped in to help teach birds had to fly for the winter. the cranes were raised in captivity and need little nudging. he was not alone. this joined by a team of conservationist. >> where are the cranes? >> going to the construction site. >> you have to admire him for doing that. >> a big change coming for the weekend. we'll be happy to highlight that for you at 11:00. >> abc world news is

the middle class is carrying a heavy load in america. but mitt roromney doesn't see it. under the romney plan, a middle class family will pay an average of up to $2,000 more year in taxaxes. while at the same time giving multi-millionaires like himself a $250,000 tax cut so, romney hits the middle class harder... and gives millionaires an even bier break. is that the way forward for america? i'm barack obama and i approve this message.